Mystery missive stirs up curiosity and emotion

Psychological drama pairs parables to ask big questions

The Bloody Theatre is an apt title for playwright Steven Ratzlaff’s latest work, a twisty parable of faith, fortune and consequence that required the crew to familiarize themselves with several tools of torture.

Some of those implements have been Frankensteined together by sound designer and musician Jesse Krause, including a “torture cello,” whose warping wails serve as a sonic stand-in for creaking floorboards, swinging doors and instances of suffering that director Bill Kerr knew would be too visceral to be shown onstage.

The Bloody Theatre isn’t necessarily a Halloween story, but with its blend of religious parable, historical martyrdom and psychological drama, it fits right into spooky season.

Produced by local collective Untimely Theatre, Ratzlaff’s script examines principles of communal responsibility, juxtaposing the present-day journey of an unhoused — by choice — Winnipeg woman named Heidi (Sarah Constible) with a verbatim staging of Martyr’s Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, a 17th-century Dutch text that includes heresy trial transcripts detailing the suppression of Anabaptist beliefs under Lutheran, reform or Catholic majorities in Europe.

Some of the lives lost in Nova Scotia shootings

PORTAPIQUE, N.S. - The victims in one of Canada's worst mass killings include an RCMP officer, a teacher, two nurses, neighbours of the shooter and two correctional officers killed in their home.

Here is a look at some of the lives lost:

Lillian Hyslop

Hyslop was killed while out for a morning stroll in Wentworth Valley, N.S. on Sunday morning, says neighbour and fellow walker Heather Matthews.

Who has been invited to the table?

Last Friday, I spoke at Booth University College’s inaugural Honour and Hope Harvest Dinner in support of Shelter U. I had been asked to speak about the power of art in the community, a subject I have spent much of my professional life thinking about — as a museum director, writer and teacher, and now through my consulting work with Civic Muse.

What continues to interest me is not simply what museums, universities and other public institutions do, but whether their work actually matters — whether they make a difference in the lives of the people and communities around them.

Preparing for the evening brought me back to an even more fundamental question: Who has been invited in?

One of my museum mentors used to remind me that institutions often begin the conversation about public engagement too late. Before engagement comes the welcome, and before the welcome comes the invitation. We can create extraordinary buildings, exhibitions and programs and say that everyone is welcome. But unless people believe that these places are also meant for them, many will never cross the threshold.

Five to Know: Hamelin golden once again

Olympic men’s hockey without NHLers is often a dour affair. Canada gathered this squad, worked really hard and they weren’t very good. But they tried.

Eliminating short-term sick notes ‘big step forward’: Doctors Manitoba

Manitoba doctors will no longer be required to issue sick notes for short-term employee absences due to illness or injury, starting Thursday.

The new provincial legislation, which officially passed in June, will only allow employers to request the medical documents when an employee has been absent for more than a week or if they’ve called in sick 10 or more times in a calendar year.

Dr. Nichelle Desilets, Doctors Manitoba board chair, said the legislation will free up time for physicians to concentrate on medical appointments and called the new rules among the strongest in Canada.

“What may be a small change in the labour code can be a big step forward on improving access to medical care for all Manitobans and using our health care resources wisely,” she said during a news conference Tuesday.

Time to clean up a world of ‘slop’

Merriam-Webster chose its word of the year correctly, and for more reasons than it might realize.

“Slop” is the word of 2025, according to the dictionary publisher. The decision was motivated primarily by the public’s encounters with, and reaction to, content generated by “artificial intelligence” large-language models.

Despite the best efforts of the technology’s proponents, people are quickly getting tired of being inundated with gaudy, glossy, lazy AI-generated images and videos practically everywhere they turn, from social media platforms to T-shirt vendors.

According to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. residents released in September, respondents were more concerned than excited by the technology, and were “generally pessimistic about AI’s effect on people’s ability to think creatively…”